Can’t afford to carpet my council house

[Florafloral]

I have recently moved into a council house with my 5 year old after being made homeless. It’s a new build so All rooms are painted which I’m grateful for but I can’t afford to carpet it. It’s concrete flooring throughout which is impossible to keep clean, is very powdery and dusty. It’s making our clothes and furniture dusty too. I applied for a grant for flooring with the council but was turned down because my DD isn’t under 3 and we have no health conditions. Does anyone have any tips or how I can try and get cheap flooring. I’ve been quoted over £2000 for the whole house. It just seems impossible

Start with just downstairs and go to a carpet shop and look for remnants

My local council provides funds for this. Have you asked them ?

Look on marketplace/gumtree sometimes people sell carpets when they redecorate, it might not be perfect but it could do a turn while you save.

Did you read the OP? She was turned down.

Honestly this is madness! What is the point of giving you a brand new house with no bloody flooring?! I’m so sorry OP. Do you have any family that could help? Maybe you could do the living room and the bedrooms now and then wait to do the rest? You could buy cheaper flooring and lay it yourself ?

https://grants-search.turn2us.org.uk/

Try this, OP.

I'm sorry you're in this position, it's rotten.

Try Freegle or Freecycle. Sometimes people throw out practically new carpets in house clearances. Also there is a carpet fitting company near me who do cheap fittings for people on low income by using excess carpet from office fittings. It may not be the luxurious deep pile people would choose but it's better than no carpet. Phone around and see if any companies offer lower prices for low income or if they know anyone that does similar deals where they reuse the waste carpet from bigger jobs.

See if you can get cheap or free rugs / carpets from charity shops, gumtree, Facebook etc. Forget about nice colour schemes etc for now, focus on getting something on the floor.

Then you can do it properly room by room as you go.

I think i'd start by asking on local free sites if anyone had any rugs to give away

It’s mind boggling you missed that in the op.

Also vinyl can be a good temporary option. Cheap, easy to clean, and you can install it yourself.

Our local freebie groups have regular requests for/offers of rugs and carpet off cuts. Are you a member of any you could try?

Post on freecycle - wanted remnants, carpet in good condition, large rugs. To get the dust down wet mop, microfibre dust the walls and if necessary paint the floors to seal. Again, see if any paint on freecycle.

There are places that do pay weekly carpets if you are desperate, however I would just save up and do a room at a time.

check on free cycle or gum tree for large rugs in the meantime.

Can you get a budgeting advance from universal credit or any help for your council’s discretionary fund?

Would mopping the floors help with the dust? As for carpet, in my house when I wanted something immediately, but relatively temporary I got it secondhand off gumtree or Facebook. I know that maybe long-term it's not what you probably will want, but to help in the meantime might be worth a look, although you would probably need a car to move it, so not sure if that is viable?

This was me. I lived for 2.5 years with no flooring after moving into a council house. It was horrendous especially with a toddler.

See if your council offer any schemes to help? Start a credit union account where you can save a small amount each week and then you may qualify for a loan? Local carpet places sometimes have cut offs that are almost the right size, maybe you can get that cheap as a starting point? Free cycle or gumtree to see if anyone is giving away rugs as a short term solution?

Its tough when you move into a council house. Your so grateful to have a place of your own, but it’s hard to make it a home when your on a low income. Good luck!

How lovely that you have a new home for you and your child - congratulations OP.

There are homelessness support charities that I refer people to regularly that provide free home goods (2nd hand). If a similar thing exists near you they might have rugs etc that could do you whilst you save.

Agree with remnants approach too as I've done this in the past and it has been a fraction of the cost.

If the landlord (council, in this case) provides flooring, the landlord is responsible for repairs and replacement. And the landlord doesn't want that responsibility or expense.

It's shit and I sympathise. I was turned down too, even though I'm disabled and had 2 young kids. We lived for over a year without until a support worker did something behind the scenes and I got it!

My advice would be to find help. If you have any support at all ask them to contact the council on your behalf maybe? Or they may know a back door way of getting it like mine seemed to. Or speak to CAB even? Don't give up. It's a nightmare not even having the basics for your little one I know how you feel.

Best of luck and I wish you both much happiness in your new home 💐

I had a flat with concrete floors. I painted the hall and bathroom floors which was a cheap way to reduce the dust until I could afford tiles for the bathroom. I like the painted floors and managed to get a second hand big rug for the hall so didn't carpet it.

Big rugs downstairs will help. Locally we have j and w carpets who do end of rolls and room sizes remnants there will be somewhere similar near you. Keep a note of all your room sizes so if anything comes up on gumtree, marketplace etc you can act quickly.

Firstly I’d seal the concrete, that will hugely reduce the dust and you’ll be able to keep it clean. This would probably do your whole house, so much cheaper than carpet https://www.diy.com/departments/smartseal-concrete-floor-sealer-concrete-dustproofer-eliminates-dust-effective-concrete-dust-proofer-breathable-25l/5061002782320_BQ.prd?alt=true

Then I’d look for roll ends and offers rather than trying to get the whole house carpeted at once, you should be able to save a lot that way and spread the cost.

Look on facebook marketplace and preloved for large rugs.
Once you have a few, go to a diy place and buy a clear sealer for the concrete floors, paint on to stop the dust then fill with rugs.

I did this several times in my first couple of flats to save money.

Hello! Congratulations on your new forever home 🏡
We also moved in to a new build, 2 years ago and had the same thing. No carpets or curtains.

Tapi carpets did us a great zero interest deal and we pay £48 a month for our £2000 carpets.

We only did upstairs. Downstairs is tiled. We bought a rug from IKEA for the lounge area for £80.

Works well. Curtains also from IKEA.

Lots of love ❤️

The chap that fitted our new carpets asked if we would mind him offering the ones he taking up (previous owners, not my taste) to someone he knew was a bit desperate. It might be worth ringing a few carpet fitters - it would do temporarily.